McKinley High was abuzz. A dance was coming up, but not just any dance but a Sadie Hawkins dance; its first ever. It was time for the boys to sweat while the girls had their fun. There was excitement all around as the girls debated on whom to ask out and the boys boasted about whom asked them out. It was chaos, but in a positive way. A new found energy spread through the school; one that was being absorbed by each and every student.

Except for Rachel.

The pint sized diva was walking down the hall incoherently muttering under her breath. She couldn't believe that Figgins had actually gone along with this. Rachel couldn't see why all the other girls in school were so giddy over the prospect of being in control this one time; the key words being one time. It was ludicrous, especially in this day and age. There was simply no justified reason for why a woman couldn't ask a guy out whenever she pleased.

Suffice to say, Rachel hadn't asked Finn to the dance yet. She wasn't even quite sure is she was going to. Sure the two of them were together so it would only be natural if they went, but she couldn't do it. Rachel loved Finn, she did but the spark that she felt when they first met had disappeared. Although to be honest, Rachel hadn't loved him from the start and maybe she never did. Sure she had found him to be sweet, cute and talented but what really caught her eye was when he told her that he had a girlfriend.

Quinn Fabray. It had been irrational to have a crush on the girl that went of her way to torment her, but that's simply how it was. Rachel Berry was, and still is, head over heels for Quinn Fabray. And when she learned that she was unavailable, it nearly broke Rachel's heart. But instead of letting it destroy her, Rachel did everything she could to remedy the problem she was faced with.

In retrospect, she had probably been a bit extreme and had done more harm than good to the girl of her dreams, and for that Rachel would be eternally sorry. But what's done is done and for all it was worth, Rachel believed that her actions had a positive effect on Quinn overall. They were friends now, close ones in fact. Rachel still wished for more, and every time she woke up after a sleepover with herself wrapped snuggly in Quinn's arms her need for Quinn's love only increased.

But a school dance, one that was demeaning to women, surely wouldn't hold the solution to her problems. And even if she wasn't against the idea of a Sadie Hawkins Dance, Rachel didn't want to go there with Finn. The dance itself had been a bit of an eye opener. It was ladies' choice, and thus made Rachel question her own choices.

Rachel didn't want Finn, never did, but he was decent and it wasn't as though Rachel had a bunch of suitors lining up to date her. Not that she wanted suitors. She only wanted Quinn. It was so frustrating. Every moment she spent with Finn was cementing their relationship, yet every look, touch, laugh, everything from Quinn made her think that maybe, just maybe.

Rachel didn't want to think about it. Instead she tried to focus her frustrations in a productive manner. She had earlier tried to busy herself with protesting against the dance, but it's kind of hard to do that if no one is helping you. Rachel had then tried to convince Principal Figgins that a Sadie Hawkins Dance was both sexist and demoralizing. He replied by saying that it was out of his hands and waved her off.

She could have tried harder, but truly there was nothing much more that could be done. And to make matters worse everyone that she knew who were in a relationship were planning to attend (Santana and Brittany were currently trying outdo each other in asking each other out. And for some reason Kurt and Blaine had were going; traitors she called them). And everyone who was single had either someone they were planning to ask out or were waiting on someone. She'd be alone the night of the dance, unless she decided to do something with Finn but that was currently out of the question.

Rachel sighed a deep sigh. Life sucked right now. And then as if to answer her prayers, Quinn Fabray passed through her line of sight. Too consumed in trying not to think of the blonde, Rachel had forgotten how she had shown no interest in the dance. She gave chase for the blonde calling out her name, "Quinn, wait!" Quinn spun around, her lips curling into a smile as Rachel came to a stop in front of her.

"Hey Rach, what's up?"

"I just wanted to see if wanted to hang out this Saturday?" the singer asked cheerfully, hoping beyond hope that Quinn didn't have other plans. A perfectly arched eyebrow made her thing otherwise.

"Saturday?" the former Cheerio asked back, clearly perplexed. "Isn't that the Sadie Hawkins Dance?" she continued, her lips curving into a nervous grin. Rachel blinked, could she? Should she? "Aren't you going with Finn?" Oh, well that made sense; clearly Quinn was just confused and wasn't wondering if she going to ask her out.

"Actually no," Rachel replied calmly. There was no need to try and guilt Quinn into spending time with her. "We're having a bit of a spat," she explained. "So I thought since I'm not going and you're not going that we could have a girls' night!" She offered a bright smile as she waited for an answer. But what all she received was the sight of Quinn nervously chewing on her lower lip. "You aren't going, are you?" Still worrying her bottom lip, Quinn suddenly found the floor to be very interesting. She shifted her weight from on foot to the other as she avoided Rachel's gaze. "Oh Quinn, please tell me you aren't thinking about going?"

"What if I am?" Quinn shrugged, her eyes glued to her shoes. She played with her fingers behind her back, hearing Rachel sigh in disappointment. She couldn't believe it. The two of them had spent countless hours together; after school, weekends, it had become a rare oddity to see them apart. But Quinn had never mentioned any interest in anyone. "You know, I should get to class. Bye." She spun on heel and continued the way she was going prior to being called by Rachel. Using her superior agility she was able to quickly lose the brunette in the crowd.

Well that just went by perfectly, Rachel thought. Not only was she still going to spend Saturday night alone and gone made Quinn feel guilty, but now she also knew that Quinn liked someone. She went off to her own class, not having enough time to find Quinn and make it to her next period without being late.

Stupid Sadie Hawkins Dance.

Rachel entered her class, sitting next to her boyfriend as per usual. The lumbering boy was clearly oblivious to her mood; wrapping an arm around her which she shrugged off. He frowned but didn't even take the effort to ask what was wrong. If she wasn't so upset with his current behavior, Rachel would have felt bad for him and his cluelessness.

They worked in silence, or at least Rachel did. Finn would occasionally ask her for help on the assignment. She ignored him as best she could, only providing minimal assistance. He was obviously confused with the work, but he continued to miss the fact that she was upset. He tapped her shoulder, "What Finn?" she whispered, wondering if he'd finally caught on.

"I know we haven't been spending as much time together, so I thought we'd go to the Sadie Hawkins Dance together," he suggested. Rachel scoffed. Really?

"Finn, do you not understand what a Sadie Hawkins Dance is?"

"Um… a dance," he answered, receiving an eyeroll from his girlfriend. "Name after a chick named Sadie," he shrugged.

"Finn, it's a dance where the girls ask the boys out," she explained.

"Oh, so are you going to ask me out?"

"No."

"No?"

"Yes, no."

"Why?" Oh, there were so many reasons.

"Why? Because a Sadie Hawkins Dance, while seemingly having good intentions, only serves to show people that men are superior to women. It tells us that women are not allowed to an active role in a relationship except under special circumstances and that men are should always be the dominant one in a relationship. Furthermore, it shows… Finn are you even listening to me?" Her sudden increase in volume snapped her boyfriend out of whatever trance he had fallen into.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course," he said quickly. "You were talking about um… you were talking about um… what were you talking about?" Rachel growled at his response, with Finn flinching in fear. She brought her hands to her forehead, massaging her temple in an effort to prevent herself from strangling Finn.

Luckily for him, he kept his mouth shut for the rest of the period. Rachel wasn't sure how much longer she could put up this façade. As good as an actress as she was, Rachel couldn't pretend that she was in love with Finn Hudson forever. If she did, it would end with a shame of a marriage and they'd only be held together by their children. Their life would be a lie and all of them would be unhappy.

She would have to deal with it sooner or later, but for now she had another problem to attend to. Her next class was with Quinn. The blonde wouldn't be able to avoid her so she'd be able to apologize for earlier. When she entered, Rachel found Quinn to be sat near the back of class. It was well know that Rachel disliked being in the back of class and she assumed that the former head cheerleader had chosen that exact spot in an effort to keep her distance.

Rachel wasn't about to let herself be so easily put off. The brunette strolled past the tables until she reached the one her best friend was seated at. She then casually sat down before placing her hand on Quinn's shoulder to get her attention. "I'm sorry about earlier," she said once the blonde had turned her way. "I didn't mean to judge you or anything."

"Thanks," is Quinn's quiet reply. "But you were right; Sadie Hawkins is kind of silly. I don't think I'm going." Rachel should have felt happy, but she couldn't if Quinn wasn't.

"No, you should go," she argued. "If there's someone out there that you really want to ask out, you should go for it." She knew that she'd regret her words, but love is about caring about someone more than yourself, right? Rachel cared about Quinn more than herself.

"Yeah, I don't think so Rach. They're not interested." Rachel catches Quinn's word choice but is a bit too distracted by the idea of someone not being interested in Quinn Fabray to make much of it. She opens her mouth but is quickly cut off, "They're not available."

"Oh." Rachel knew all about that.

"So, I thought I'd take you up on your offer for a girls' night," Quinn says. "If it's still on the table that is." Those words were enough to lift all the negative thoughts and feeling that Rachel had been feeling. She smiled widely, taking Quinn into a quick hug before settling back into her seat.

"Of course it is Quinn."

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